Thursday, December 22, 2011

Christmas is a sentimental time for most people. For me it is an extremely happy time because I can bask in the glow of warm memories. My recollections, however, may be quite different from those of my friends. My life began in the town of Trier, in Germany (West Germany back then). I remained there until I was nearly 9 years old and am, therefore, able to remember quite a bit of my heritage. Today - the day, before the day before Christmas Eve day - I am reminiscing and savoring memories of my sweet German 'Mutti' who made this time of the year such a blessed and special one.

ANGELS BAKING - we livedon an upper floor of a large apartment building. One of our windows faced a mountain at the top of which stood a huge statue of the Blessed Mother. Around her head was a halo of lights that lit up at night. Since this window faced West, we also saw every sunset. As the burnished colors put on their display, Mutti would tell me that this glow came from the angel's ovens as they baked birthday cookies for baby Jesus. Of course the scent of cookies baking in our kitchen gave me the aroma to go along with her tale.

ST. NICHOLAS - German children celebrate the feast of St. Nicholas on the eve of December 5th. The tradition comes from a real-life saint - a 4th-century Catholic bishop, in what is now Turkey, who did many kind deeds for his fellow man. On the evening of December 5th someone dressed as St. Nicholas would come to our door - dressed in his bishop's finery and admonish us to be good. His devilish side-kick, with a bag of coal, would warn us of the consequences if we misbehaved. Then we would place shoes under our beds before going to sleep. In the night our parents filled them with small treats, fruit, and a small gift. Another variation involved specially decorated plates that were left out and filled with treats.

This is one of our family photos from around 1964, in Trier.

CHRISTMAS EVE - When I was a child in Germany, there was no Santa Claus. Instead, St. Nicholas came on the evening of the 5th. The tradition in those days spoke of the Christ-Child coming on Christmas Eve, with the aid of His angels. Since we had thus far only had an Advent Wreath, the day of Christmas Eve was spent in excited anticipation. I would spend time with my uncle Jaja, who would play his hand carved wooden flute while I sang Christmas carols. My parents would be hidden away behind closed doors - decorating the Christmas tree and otherwise assisting the angels and Jesus. All of sudden, the tinkling of a tiny bell could be heard! It was time to run into the living room and see what they had been up to! There, on the table would be a live Christmas tree with real candles ablaze. Our gifts would be on the floor below - unwrapped and ready for play!

When we came to the United States, we brought much of this tradition with us. We still use some of these practices to this day. Parts of American culture and the present times have also easily melded into our celebration. All in all, I am so very grateful that I was taught to respect the Reason for the Season and that this spirit has been passed down to my children and grandchildren!

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

As I mentioned in a previous post, today (December 6) is the Feast of St. Nicholas. According to the St. Nicholas Center, one of the stories told about him helps to illustrate why this amazing saint is the patron of children.

One of the oldest stories showing St. Nicholas as a protector of children takes place long after his death. The townspeople of Myra were celebrating the good saint on the eve of his feast day when a band of Arab pirates from Crete came into the district. They stole treasures from the Church of Saint Nicholas to take away as booty. As they were leaving town, they snatched a young boy, Basilios, to make into a slave. The emir, or ruler, selected Basilios to be his personal cupbearer, as not knowing the language, Basilios would not understand what the king said to those around him...as Basilios was fulfilling his tasks serving the emir, he was suddenly whisked up and away. St. Nicholas appeared to the terrified boy, blessed him, and set him down at his home back in Myra. Imagine the joy and wonderment when Basilios amazingly appeared before his parents, still holding the king's golden cup. This is the first story told of St. Nicholas protecting children—which became his primary role in the West.

Since children were as preciousl to St. Nicholas as they are to us, I'd like to share a simple craft for all of the children in the family. When we created this craft we included those who either did not make it to this Earth or left us far too soon, and are instead waiting for us in heaven - our own little saints. The children had a really good time when chosing what creative facial expressions we could come up with! Your children, too, will love seeing their faces on the angels!

MATERIALS:

Wooden spring clothes pins (one for each child)

Card stock paper in a neutral color

Existing photo or one printed on regular paper, for each child

Glitter pipe cleaners

Large sequins (optional)

Glitter glue

Hot glue gun and glue

PREP WORK and CONSTRUCTION :

Cut out a photo of each child that is proportionate to the clothes pin.

For the angels that represent the babies who don't live with us on this earth, you can either use a large sequin (I used silver) or cut out an oval and paint with glitter glue.

Draw a template (or find one on the web) for the Angel Wings and cut out.

Decorate the wings as desired.

Paint the clothes pin with glitter glue, adding dabs to represent buttons or belts, if desired.

Cut a section pipe cleaner and shape into a halo.

After clothes pins dry, attach faces with hot glue.

Do the same for the wings and halos.

Your Angel Faces are now ready to attach to your Advent Wreath or Christmas Tree!

Monday, December 5, 2011

Germany has long been on the forefront when it comes to Christmas traditions. From composing Silent Night ("Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht") for the guitar, to the Advent Wreath, these ancestors of mine seemed to be very good at celebrating. I know that my mother never passed up an opportunity and that lead to quite a colorful childhood. This post is written in an effort to share some of our personal Christmas Traditions with you.

Of course any discussion of Christmas begs the introduction of the preceding season of Advent. Without the waiting, the culminating event would be less sweet! In a previous post - I touched on the fact that Advent and Christmas are two separate, yet linked, Seasons in the Church Calendar. It is a season of penance, preparation, prayer and hope, sharing the liturgical color of purple with Lent. As we spend the days between the four Sundays of Advent it is with an air of anticipation for the Coming of Jesus, in the humble form of a human child. As such there are many outward practices that we can utilize to bring home the true purpose of the Season. As our priest pronounced during his homily on the first Sunday of Advent,

‘The world will tell you it’s Christmas.

It’s.

Not.

Christmas!

What to do then, with our children or ourselves, as the rest of the world puts the cart before the horse and forgets the sweetness of anticipation so uncommon in our instant world of today?

ADVENT Traditions

Advent Wreath craft

The Advent Wreath is one of the oldest means of tangibly illustrating the waiting aspect of this period before Christmas. Our family crafts an Advent Wreath with the children on the days leading up to the season. It may be made of greenery gathered in the Kentucky landscape or an arts and crafts project such as the one I shared in a previous post - ADVENTuresome Family Fun. As Thanksgiving comes to a close and the tinsel and lights begin to beckon, we use this circle of green as reminder that we are counting down to something B I G! Our Advent Wreath remains on the kitchen table and we light the appropriate number of candles, during meal time, as the days progress. We also add a new line to our customary blessing said before meals.

Bless us oh Lord, for these Thy gifts, which we are about to receive, from Thy bounty, through Christ Our Lord. Amen!

Come, Jesus, Come!

Another tradition we observe, which like so many began in Germany, involves an Advent Calendar. Having begun as chalk lines in the door way marking the days leading up to Christmas, it soon evolved into a paper or cardboard calendar with small images behind each numbered door. As this idea evolved, soon the pictures were replaced by small pieces of chocolate. This sweet tradition is a favorite with children as they open the tiny doors of their appropriately numbered calendar and delight in a tidbit of chocolate for each day. The opening of the doors has a visual connotation that is easy for our little ones to comprehend.

Advent Tree

Some families also create a Jesse Tree with biblical references for Advent. Our family has taken a different tack. We have an Advent Tree (three-year-old Simon calls it the 'Waiting Tree') that is placed on a pedestal table in the living room. It stands no more than two feet high and has fiber optic lighting. Several years ago, our daughter, Erika, purchased an Advent Calendar that holds tiny books for each day of Advent. Entitled 'The Story of Christmas', each book is numbered and shares one fact or scriptural reference to the coming of Christmas. Since these tiny books hang from golden threads, we hang each one on the Advent Tree after it has been read. As Christmas draws nearer, the children gain a bit of knowledge leading up to the final, largest book which represents Christmas Eve and the birth of Jesus.

The Christmas tree in our house waits for a time closer to Christmas but we do have some winter type of display to fulfill the desire for a bit of special decorating. This is certainly not a drab time for us but a time of metered joy and anticipation. We call this decorative endeavor ‘pre-tree’ and it’s just that. The décor is in the style of winter, with boughs of greenery and pinecone candles holders. There is certainly an air of anticipation but it reserves the arrival of Christmas for the actual day.

St. Nicholas Ctr.

No German would omit the great bishop, St. Nicholas, when preparing the way for Christmas. This great saint was the predecessor of today’s Santa Claus (St. Nick). While his Feastday is celebrated on December 6th, the traditional observance begins the evening before on the 5th. The children place their shoes under their beds, hoping that St. Nicholas will fill them with gelt (chocolate coins), tangerines and other small treats. Those who have been naughty, however, fear that their shoes will hold a lump of coal the next morning! There are many ways that St. Nicholas can be incorporated into the tales of Santa Claus so as to instruct children in a more spiritual way. The story of how he gave away all of his worldly possessions, so that he could give to alms to the poor, can inspire children to be givers rather than focusing on receiving.

Real candles on the tree!

IT’s ALMOST CHRISTmas

Now we are nearing the culmination of all of that anticipation and preparation. Christmas is fast approaching and time is short. We tend to follow the decorating timetable that our parish church does. Our Christmas tree, itself, is reserved for the weekend before Christmas Eve. At that time we put up the tree – sometimes a live tree that is planted in our garden later and sometimes an artificial one. As the handful of remaining days dwindle we first place the tree, then the lights, and finally (right before Christmas Eve) we do the actual trimming of the tree. Again, my German heritage comes into play, so we add not only strings of tiny glowing white lights, we also add acorn-shaped brass candle holders and small white candles.

Joyful Promise

The décor is a combination of spiritual ornaments and ornaments depicting nature. We have various types of angels, glimmering snowflakes, and my treasured collection of Roman Millennium ornaments, portraying the Blessed Mother and her Holy Infant. Our Nativity scene also makes its appearance during these last days of Advent – minus the figure of the infant Jesus.

CHRISTmas EVE

It’s ‘Showtime’!

So now it’s Christmas!!! The fourth candle has been lit on the Advent Wreath and it’s time for the Christ Candle. The tree is glowing and twinkling with both tiny bulbs and flickering candle light. The manger scene is in its place of honor, high up on the mantle and the classical Christmas music is streaming from the sound system. The traditional food has been prepared – including German Potato Salad (handed down for generations), Stewed Beef over Swiss and Mushroom Rice, Spritzgebaeck cookies and Butter Cream Cake. It is now that my husband and I begin to see a trail of car lights from the kitchen window as we make our last minute preparations in a flurry of cooperative activity. And here they come! My siblings and their children, Rick’s father and brother, our children and spouses and their children, plus anyone else who just so happens to show up that year!

Our first order of business is a brief period of gathering and greeting. As everyone settles in, the ‘program’ or ‘liturgy’ as one priest friend calls it, begins.

Readings: years ago our dearly departed mother put together a set of readings for this occasion. She wrote the names of those who would participate in the margins and we still use scanned copies of these pages to this day. They are spiritual, in nature, and invite us to focus on the Reason for the Season. As we find our places on sofas, chairs and the floor, we face each other and begin. Turns are taken until the final word has been shared. As children become older, they join in the reading and others step aside.

Nativity: One of the children now places the infant Jesus into the manger as we acknowledge that He for Whom we have been waiting is here.

Songs: we have several musicians in the family so there have been guitars and flutes in the mix. There are also some pretty decent vocalists, so there are booklets of songs passed around and we sing! The songs are traditional and spiritual in nature and the children join in with enthusiasm. Every year the final number is Silent Night and we always dedicate one verse, in German, to Marie-Luise Annerose Susanne Fingerhut, my sweet, feisty German mother, who instituted this entire celebration and founded this family. And what a bunch we are!

Spritzgebaeck

Meal: now is the time for feasting! We begin by praying together and then dig in. There is plenty of food and the menu varies little from year to year. Some dishes are traditionally German and yet there have been American additions. These all meld into one delightful party for your tastebuds.

Gifting: Time for the children to each open one gift. On Thanksgiving, we hold a drawing, and each child is assigned a recipient for their gift. The monetary value is not excessive and the thought behind the gift is sincere. As the children open their gifts they not only delight in their own, but also those gifts that they have given. The children now settle in to play in community with the offerings brought forth by those brightly wrapped treasures from under the tree.

Silly Santa: years ago, we decided to minimize the gift giving for Christmas. In fact, Rick and I no longer exchange gifts at all. At first we adults drew names – like the children do. Now, we have decided to each buy one small item (something we wouldn't mind taking back home - so no trickery!), wrap it and play a game of Silly Santa (aka ‘dirty’ Santa). The sparing and tactical schemes keep us all entertained for a while and then we just settle down to visit, graze at the food buffet, or simply observe the dynamics at play. With 10+ children, most under the age of 7, and many adults, there’s never a dull moment!

‘Midnight’ Mass: This Christmas Vigil Mass used to be held at Midnight but sadly, with an aging priest and mission status, our parish now celebrates at ten p.m. most years. Much of the family will bundle up and join us at our small, rural parish for the Holy Mass of Christmas Vigil. Husband, Rick, and I along with daughter, Erika, and her husband, Andrew, make up the choir under the direction of our devoted choir director/organist who we share with a parish 20 miles away. We still sing up in the choir loft at our parish and so, many family members join us in our private setting with a birds-eye view.

As the last Hosanna is sung and we wind our sleepy way back home, we share an inner glow.

This family KNOWS that it is Christmas.

We can FEEL it down in our hearts and souls.

This is a SPECIAL day when our Lord Jesus Christ came to us in a humble stable to bring to us not only salvation but His BODY and BLOOD to share! There is no empty let down feeling. No sad little tree set by the curb on the 26th. Instead, the feeling is one of fulfillment. We have lived the seasons and have shared in both the waiting and in the humble, yet triumphant Coming!

But WAIT!

There's more! As the season of Christmas continues, our tree and manger remain. Again, we follow the Church Calendar. Christmas has just begun! The Christmas Season will continue through the feast of Epiphany which celebrates the extension of salvation to the Gentiles by the visit of the Three Wise Men. In this feast, all peoples are made aware of His coming and invited to claim Him as their King! Epihany traditionally falls on the 12th day after Christmas (January 6th) but has been transferred to a Sunday (in the U.S.) and will be celebrated on Sunday, January 8, 2012. As the final feast in the series of Christmas celebrations, The Baptism of Our Lord signals the end of the Christmas season.

In observing the entire Season rather than just one day, we find the full story: 1) Christmas - the birth of our Savior as a humble infant. On this day He becomes human! 2) Epiphany - His manifestation as our King through the visit of the Wise Men who proclaim Him to all peoples and 3) His baptism - Almighty God's exhortation of his perfect yet fully human Son, on the day Jesus was baptised by John the Baptist! What a rich treasury our Church provides! There are so many reasons to celebrate and so many wonderful traditions to be shared.

Designs by Birgit

Birgit Jones is a 50-something cradle Catholic who is passionate about the Church and the prolife movement. A graduate of Brescia University, she has employed her Bachelor of Art degree in pursuits ranging from Executive Director of Right to Life groups to Field Representative to Congressman Ron Lewis (R-KY).

She has been married to her Catholic convert husband, Rick, for 40 years. They have four children and eight living grandchildren (all age eleven and under). Their frequent visits eliminate any fear of an empty nest!

Birgit can also be found on her personal blog Designs By Birgit and Facebook fan page Designs By Birgit, where she utilizes her advertising and public relations experience to promote Life through her pro-life memes.